Experiences of Intersubjectivity and Agency in Human–HorseRelationships Differ Between Box- and Open-Shed-StableEnvironments
«Human–horse relationships can be experienced in many ways and the horse companion can be given various roles, from a partner in action to a tool or commodity. How humans experience connection with horses and what kinds of roles are assigned to them may reflect or even depend on the real-life co-actions and environments. In this study, we assessed experiences of intersubjectivity in human–horse relationships, focusing particularly on whether and how agency and emotional and embodied intersubjectivity with the horse were discussed by horse owners.»
The Easiest Becomes the Rule: Beliefs, Knowledge and Attitudes of Equine Practitioners and Enthusiasts Regarding Horse Welfare
«Findings indicate that while enthusiasts are aware of and acknowledge the need for good welfare practices, several factors hinder application: financial constraints, lack of physical space, insufficient skilled labor, time limitations, inadequate resources or materials, and a lack of technical knowledge. Most strikingly, despite acknowledging the need for improvement and professing love for their horses, participants did not recognize that the conditions under which they keep or use horses often fall short of their own standards. They attributed the inability to make changes not to themselves but to external circumstances beyond their control. These results pave the way for further research to determine whether equestrian activities are based on a respectful relationship with horses or if belonging to the equestrian world takes precedence, even at the expense of equine welfare.»
Visual attention, an indicator of human-animal relationships? A study of domestic horses (Equus caballus)
«This study, based on horses, contributes to the general debate on the place of attentional processes at the interface of emotion and cognition and opens new lines of thought about individual sensitivities (only individuals can tell what an appropriate reward is), attentional processes and learning.»
Rochais C, Henry S, Sankey C, Nassur F, Góracka-Bruzda A, Hausberger M.
Equine-assisted services: An overview of current scientific contributions on efficacy and outcomes on humans and horses
«The review provides an overview of the current literature concerning the use of horses in equine-assisted services (EAS) and of their effects on humans, and it focuses on their effects on horses.»
Adriana Ferlazzo, Esterina Fazio, Cristina Cravana, Pietro Medica
Can Ponies (Equus Caballus) Distinguish Human Facial Expressions?
«This study provides the first evidence that ponies can distinguish among human facial expressions presented by live humans. Angry faces resulted in activation of the right hemisphere as ponies viewed the human first, more often and longer with their left eye.»
Enhanced Understanding of Horse–Human Interactions to Optimize Welfare
“The objective of this literature review is to explore aspects of the relationship between humans and horses to better understand the horse’s umwelt and thereby shed new light on potential positive approaches to enhance equine welfare with humans.”
The effects of a choice test between food rewards and human interaction in a herd of domestic horses of varying breeds and experiences
«This study looked at how horses perceive human interaction as a form of positive reward by examining whether scratching and patting can serve as a reward for a behavior and how this compares to known rewards (treats) based on horses’ ability to use symbols to show preferences.[…] …, all horses in this study showed preference for treats over human contact, regardless of handling or training histories.»
Kieson, E., Felix, C., Webb, S., & Abramson, C. I.
Horses associate individual human voices with the valence of past interactions: a behavioural and electrophysiological study
«In the present study, we tested whether horses could associate individual human voices with past positive or negative experiences. Both behavioural and electroencephalographic measures allowed examining laterality patterns in addition to the behavioural reactions. The results show that horses reacted to voices associated with past positive experiences with increased attention/ arousal (gamma oscillations in the right hemisphere) and indicators of a positive emotional state (left hemisphere activation and ears held forward), and to those associated with past negative experiences with negative afective states (right hemisphere activation and ears held backwards).»
D’ Ingeo, S., Quaranta, A., Siniscalchi, M., Stomp, M., Coste, C., Bagnard, C., … Cousillas, H.
Are Horses (Equus caballus) Sensitive to Human Emotional Cues?
“The results revealed that human emotional cues influenced the frequency of gaze following and the amount of time that horses looked at humans. Horses avoided following the human gaze and looked in their direction for a shorter period of time when humans displayed expressions of disgust. These findings support our hypothesis that horses exhibit sensitivity to negative human emotional cues.”
Functionally relevant responses to human facial expressions of emotion in the domestic horse (Equus caballus)
«This study presents the first evidence of horses’ abilities to spontaneously discriminate between positive (happy) and negative (angry) human facial expressions in photographs.»
Smith, A. V., Proops, L., Grounds, K., Wathan, J., & McComb, K.
Positive interactions lead to lasting positive memories in horses, Equus caballus
«The association of a reward with a learning task in an interactional context induced positive reactions towards humans during training. It also increased contact and interest, not only just after training, but also several months later, despite no further interaction with humans. In addition, this ‘positive memory’ of humans extended to novel persons.»
Reinforcement as a mediator of the perception of humans by horses (Equus caballus)
«The results showed that the type of reinforcement had a major effect on the subsequent animals’ perception of familiar and unfamiliar humans. Negative reinforcement was rapidly associated with an increased emotional state, as revealed by heart rate measurements and behavioural observations (head movements and ears laid back position). Its use led the ponies to seek less contact with humans. On the contrary, ponies trained with positive reinforcement showed an increased interest in humans and sought contact after training.»
